Vistors Guide

visitor's guide

Introduction
Our History
Our Pastors
What We Believe
The Foundations of the Christian Faith
Foundation #1 - The Existence of God
Foundation #2 - The Depravity of Man
Foundation #3 - The Provision of Jesus Christ
Foundation #4 - The Need for a Definite, Personal Commitment to Jesus Christ
Foundation #5 - You Must be Born Again
Conclusion
Equipping
Suggested Reading
Education
Our Worship Services
Outreach

introduction

A warm welcome to you from all of us at Berean Baptist Church! We’re delighted you took the time to be with us. We hope this booklet will help you know us a little better. Our goal is to exalt Christ and see Him glorified. Our name, as much as anything, defines who we are and why we’re here. Berean – We read in the book of Acts that the Jews in Berea searched the scriptures daily and so received the Word with readiness. (Acts 17:11) You’ll find that a hunger for God’s Word is a common thread that runs through every ministry and expression of worship here. Baptist – We believe that when a person has been converted, he declares his new position by baptism. Baptism is a commandment (Mark 16:15-16) - an ordinance which originates in God and is provided from heaven. God knows full well that baptism perfectly portrays what the believer needs to say in his testimony – that his sins have been washed away by Christ’s substitutionary death. Faith is God’s gift to the believer, and now that it has been given, the believer wishes to declare to the whole of heaven and earth, to all his relatives and friends, his complete trust in and union with Christ. Church – Perhaps Peter has best recorded the vision of what a New Testament church should be: “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet 2:15). We believe that the local church should be as Paul tells us, “the pillar and ground of truth”. (1 Tim 3:15) Visitors often ask questions about a church. As with many things in life, there are good questions to ask and bad questions. Whether you are looking for a church or just visiting, here are some questions that often yield a distorted view of a church: Is it friendly? Is there an exciting service 3 Introduction with good music? Does the preaching make me feel good? Is the building pretty? Are there entertaining things going on for the kids? Better questions to ask are: Is the preaching Biblical and Christ-centered? Is the pastor genuine and sincere? Is the church true to God’s Word? Is there a real spiritual life evidenced by love, worship, joy, holiness, fellowship and compassionate outreach? Belonging to a particular church is vital to the Christian. In the New Testament, there is no such person as a Christian who is not a church member. Whether denominational or independent, it is most important that the local church uphold the trust-worthiness of Scriptures and the doctrines that have marked men through the ages as truly biblical. When marking a church, you would be wise to set the assembly alongside the Scriptures and discern accordingly. We live in an age when the church is often not seen for what God intended it should be. Our supreme motive here at Berean is simply this: to lift up and glorify Jesus Christ. We hope you enjoy worshipping with us and will visit again soon. We trust you’ll discover God’s grace among us. If we can minister to you in any way, it would be our privilege to serve you and the Lord as we may. May God bless you richly!

Pastor Robert L. Dickie

our history

Berean Baptist Church began as the Fenton Road Mission in 1924 and met in the old temporary school building on the corner of Waldman and Fenton in Flint. Later that year, the mission bought two lots on Atherton Road. The temporary school closed and for a brief period the church had to meet in a member’s garage. In August 1929, a basement was built on the Atherton Road property. Two years later in February 1931, the Fenton Road Mission was renamed Berean Baptist Church. On August 10, 1932, the State of Michigan incorporated Berean. In 1938, the basement became too small to contain the crowd. Therefore, a building program was begun in faith to enlarge the basement and add a sanctuary on top. The new building was dedicated on January 27, 1951. On October 4, 1970, ground was broken to begin construction of the present sanctuary in Grand Blanc. The church was dedicated to the work of the Lord on Sunday, April 16, 1972. For over 70 years this church has stood for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Complete Authority of the Word of God. We desire to continue the cause of proclaiming to the world the unsearchable riches of Christ. It is our joy and privilege to serve and exalt Jesus Christ in this community.

our pastors

Pastor Robert Dickie attended Bob Jones University and has studied extensively at other institutions such as Toronto Baptist Seminary, Flint Bible Institute, and Michigan State University. Pastor Dickie was born and grew up in the Pontiac, Michigan area and served at churches in Flint, Michigan as a Youth Pastor; Midland, Michigan as an Associate Pastor, and Senior Pastor in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Pastor Dickie has served as the Senior Pastor at Berean Baptist Church since 1982. He has taught at William Tyndale College in Farmington Hills, Michigan, written and critiqued numerous articles for Christian publications, and written extensively for private and group study. Two of his books include "A Biblical Perspective of Wealth" and "Throne Room Worship".

Pastor Dickie serves on the Board of Evangelical Press (EP) and travels the globe as a conference speaker and representative of EP. He and his wife, Mary, have five children. The Pastor is a regularly featured speaker on the monthly audio series from Emmaus Road Ministries which reaches thousands across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, challenging listeners to develop a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and to live a value based life guided by biblical Christian principles. He has led many mission trips to India where he has ministered to the people of India in Bible conferences, evangelistic meetings and working with orphans in teaching them the Word of God. Pastor Dickie has also preached in Africa, Canada, Europe and Israel.

The goal of Pastor Dickie’s ministry here at Berean is to create a thriving spiritual fellowship, knitting together the people of the church as a loving family of brothers and sisters in Christ with an open door to the surrounding community. His fervent desire is that the presence of Christ would permeate the lives and service of the members and that there would always be a spirit of love, compassion, and understanding among them as they seek to encourage and build each other up in the faith. In his words, Pastor Dickie says, “I long to see our people growing in holiness and becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that we would have an earnest desire to see others come to the saving knowledge of God. It is my hope that people in the surrounding communities will know that truly, God is among us. I pray that we will become a church that exalts Jesus Christ and stands as a light on a hill in this community – a place of peace for those in confusion, and a place of hope for the hopeless. My invitation to you is found in Psalm 34:3, ‘O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.’ ”

Assistant Pastor Phil Jones joined the church staff at Berean in August, 2005 when he and his wife, Kate, moved to Grand Blanc from Hertford, England. Pastor Jones trained with the Fellowship of independent Evangelical Churches from 2003 to 2005, graduating from the “Prepared for Service” course. Before being called by the Lord to this his first pastoral position, Pastor Jones worked in England as a gardener/groundsman, while assisting with various aspects of the ministry at Herford Town Church where he was an elder. Pastor Jones assists Pastor Dickie with the work of the church in many different areas. He and Kate greatly enjoy their role as leaders of the young people’s Discipleship Group.

Assistant Pastor Eric Stewart joined the staff at Berean in February of 2007. He and his wife Lori met at the church and reside in Royal Oak. Before being called by the Lord to this, his first pastoral position, Eric worked in the food industry. He grew up in the town of Millington, Michigan and graduated from Millington High School where he excelled in football, basketball, and baseball. After high school, he studied at Adrian College and Mott College. Eric came to faith in Christ on January 25, 2004 and ever since that day, his first love has been and continues to be Jesus Christ. He is extremely excited to be working with and being mentored by such a godly and experienced pastor as Bob Dickie.

what we believe

We are a church that seeks above all else to glorify and magnify the Lord Jesus Christ and the wonders of His Gospel. We are here to extend His Kingdom by living and proclaiming His truth in the world. We are committed to the theology of the Reformation that includes these distinctives:

1. Sola Scriptura: The Scripture alone
2. Solus Christus: Christ alone
3. Sola Gratia: Grace alone
4. Sola Fide: Faith alone
5. Soli Deo Gloria: For the glory of God alone

A more detailed description of these five distinctives can be found in a booklet entitled, “A Call to Repentance and Reformation,” which is available on our bookshelves in the narthex. We seek to worship our God following biblical guidelines and practices rather than following the whims and wishes of the fallen world culture around us. In everything we do as a church, we seek to give the preeminence to Jesus Christ...

You’ll find that we are seeking to be a friendly church with wonderful facilities, focused on the person and work of Christ. We would like to invite you to worship with us and discover the joy and glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We believe that the Apostles Creed is a concise summary of the main articles of the Christian faith.

Apostle's Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth:

And in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, What We Believe 10 suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hades; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

For a further understanding of our doctrinal position you can consult “A Faith to Confess - The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 - Rewritten in Modern English” found on our bookshelves in the narthex.

Foundation #1
The Existence of God:

The first foundation of the Christian faith must begin with the existence of the infinite, personal God. We must clearly know who He is and what He is like. One of the amazing things about God is that He is not impersonal. He has revealed Himself to man through the writings of the Bible. He wants us to know Him!

The God of the Bible is revealed to us as a God who is:

Sovereign - He is uncontrolled and uninfluenced by forces outside Himself.
Holy - He is without sin.
Infinite - He has no beginning and no end.
Just - He repays all men for their behavior.
Love - He has a special love for His creation and His people.
Personal - He can be known. This is why He revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures.

Foundation #2
The Depravity of Man:

Do you believe in the depravity of man? By "depravity" we mean man’s sinful condition as a result of his rebellion against God in the garden of Eden.

When we look around us and see all the sorrow, suffering, death and pain, we realize something is terribly wrong with our world. Many people believe God has caused all of this, and therefore say that they could never believe in a God who would create such a world.

But this second foundation of Christian faith teaches us that the reason there is sin and chaos in this world is due to man’s rebellion and depravity. This means that:

1. Man is guilty before God.

a. He is guilty by birth. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom 5:12).
b. He is guilty by act. "As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one" (Rom 3:10). "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23).

2. Man is unable to save himself by good works. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph 2:8, 9). "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil" (Jer 13:23).

3. Man is making God's beautiful world ugly. This explains why there is so much chaos, confusion, and wickedness in the world. "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen 6:5).

4. Man is under God's judgment and unless he is saved, he will surely die. "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb 9:27).

The following diagram illustrates the guiltiness of men and the unity of the scriptural message of salvation:

Let me explain this:

In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were given a command: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16, 17).

This is the story: Our first parents broke God’s law, and sin and death were the result. But God has made a wonderful provision for our sin. God made a coat of skins for Adam and Eve. This required killing an animal – the first sacrifice of an innocent victim to cover the shame of man, which is the first picture we have of Christ in the Bible.

Later Cain and Abel brought offerings to God for their sins. Abel brought a lamb sacrifice, but Cain (in defiance of God) brought fruits from his garden. He thought, "My fruits are good enough. I have raised them. God must accept me because of these good works that I've brought to Him." Cain's line of reasoning is the beginning of humanism – man's attempt to find God by human effort.

Abel's line of reasoning is the essence of true Christianity. All false religions are merely humanistic attempts (like Cain's) to please God. But, from Abel right through to Christ, all godly men sacrificed a lamb, and by faith, were looking forward to the coming of "The Lamb" – the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today, we look back by faith to Christ, just as Abel, Abraham, Moses, David and others looked forward by faith to Christ. All of religious history can be understood by one of these two lines of thought: the line of Abel, which is the way of the Lamb, or the line of Cain, which is the way of humanism.

Foundation #3
The Provision of Jesus Christ

Do you believe that Jesus Christ was God’s Son and was born of a virgin, and that He lived a sinless life and died as a substitute on the cross for sinners? Do you believe that Jesus Christ was buried and rose again and has been accepted in heaven as a pleasing offering to God for man’s sin?

The third foundation of Christian faith tells us that Jesus Christ is God’s answer to man’s great spiritual need. This can be illustrated by a number of diagrams:

Man is separated from a holy God by his sin. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

		Good works, religion, philosophy
Man’s many attempts at reaching God always fail. "For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Galatians 2:16).

		Man's good works
Man fails to measure up because God is holy and demands perfection. God measures all of us by His law, and we all fall short. "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God" (Romans 3:19).

The Ten Commandments is God’s measuring stick to reveal to us our sin:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not lie.
10. Thou shalt not covet.

Jesus made it clear that the spirit of the law is even more severe than the letter of the law. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5:27, 28).

Man’s dilemma is solved by God’s grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favor, something none of us deserves. God has bridged the gap by the life and death of His Son, Jesus Christ. In His life, Jesus worked out a perfect obedience to the law that He could credit to the believer, thus declaring the believer holy so that he can measure up to God’s standard!

The death of Christ removes man’s guilt and sin by the blood that Jesus poured out at the cross. So when you come to Jesus by faith, your sins are credited to Him and His perfect obedience is credited to you. The result is that Jesus was treated as though He was a sinner, and you are treated as though you are righteous.

We can summarize:
Man was sinful and unable to please God by his own good works, but God has removed man's guilt and sin by washing it away with the blood of Jesus. God gives man the holiness of His Son, so now he is able to stand in God’s presence accepted forever. This third foundation teaches us that the basis of our acceptance with God is based completely on the work of another, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has done it all! We don't have to work for salvation.

Foundation #4
The Need for a Definite, Personal, commitment to Christ:

This foundation of Christian faith teaches us that it is not enough merely to believe all that we’ve said so far. We must be actually committed to these great truths.

Jesus said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:27). This personal commitment to Jesus Christ involves four things:

Believing on Christ's work: i.e., His blood and righteousness.. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (John 1:12).
Repenting of all our sins. Repentance involves a godly. sorrow for our sins and a turning from them. "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3).
Submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9).
Following the teachings of Christ. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27).

Foundation #5
You Must be Born Again

Many people agree with the need to believe, repent, submit, and follow Christ. But they say, "I just can’t do it." They are right, of course. No man can do these four things on his own; he needs to be enabled by God’s Holy Spirit. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12).

Being born again is a work of divine grace. It is something God does for the sinner. "And you hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). The word "quickened" means made alive and given new life.

You cannot change your heart or make yourself a new person. Only God can do this. If you sense your need of Christ but feel you are helpless to do what we have outlined here, then you need to ask God to do for you what you cannot do for yourself! Ask God to enable you to believe; ask God to help you to repent; tell the Lord you desire to submit to the Lordship of His Son Jesus Christ; pray for grace that you’ll be able to follow all the teachings of God’s Word.

Conclusion:

These are the foundations of the Christian faith:
1. The Existence of God
2. The Depravity of Man
3. The provision of Jesus Christ
4. The Need for a Definite, Personal Commitment to Christ
5. You Must Be Born Again

Without this knowledge, one cannot truly be a Christian. Nor is it enough to merely believe these five foundations of Christian faith—we must act upon them!

Do you realize that God is holy and you have sinned against Him?
Do you realize that you cannot save yourself by your good works?
Do you believe Jesus Christ really died for your sins and rose again to demonstrate that He was God?

equipping

If you believe these truths, then why don’t you confess your need of Christ, acknowledge your guilt before God, and ask Him for forgiveness? Right now, cry out to God with the sinner's prayer: "0, God, be merciful to me a sinner!."

Give your life to Christ right now: Believe on Christ, repent of your sins, submit to His Lordship over your life, and seek to follow His teachings. Listen to this precious promise of Jesus Himself: "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). If you come to Jesus right now, He’ll not turn you away.

You may be asking—how important are these foundations of Christian faith? Does it really matter if I believe them at all? It is important, and yes, it matters a great deal!

The Bible says, "For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23).
"The wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17).
"It is appointed unto man once to die, but after that the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).

Jesus Christ is God, and He has made a way of escape for sinners from God's wrath. You must come to Him on the terms we have outlined here in "The Foundations of Christian Faith."

We believe that if we take care of the depth of ministry, God will take care of the breadth. Therefore, equipping Christians with truth from God’s Word has always been, and will continue to be central to the life of our church.

Bookstore – Media Center
The Bookstore – Media Center is located on the west side of the narthex. It contains a wonderful selection of trustworthy titles for spiritual growth and learning. You may request copies of messages for purchase in CD format either individually or on a regular weekly basis. We invite you to browse our store before and after services.

Articles / Publications by Pastor Dickie
Look for the bookshelves on the sanctuary side of the narthex. These publications include copies of our Pastors' sermon notes. These articles and publications are made available free of charge to aid your growth in grace..

"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them."